Scoring breakdown

Luxury-car makers can't get enough of SUVs, and while much of the attention is swinging to the smaller end of the spectrum there's still plenty of buyer interest in the larger brigade that started the trend.

Mercedes-Benz was one of the first to take the plunge, with its ML off-roader in the 1990s; this year the third generation arrived.

As well as a new body, for the first time - both for the ML and the large luxury-SUV segment - there's now a choice of four-cylinder propulsion in the ML250 CDI, which is the car we've opted for in this test.